Bianca Sanchez, bianca.sanchez@sierraclub.org
MANHATTAN, NY -- Today, the New York City Council voted to approve Resolution 169. The resolution calls on the Climate Action Council and the Governor to draft and implement a final Climate Action Council Scoping Plan that commits to meeting New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) targets while taking bold climate and environmental justice action in New York.
Today’s vote of approval comes at a time when the fossil fuel industry is working hard to obstruct climate progress. The approval demonstrates the Council’s support for a plan that relies not on false fossil fuel solutions but on necessary, clean energy commitments. These include plans for equitable and widespread building electrification, an end to gas and oil incentives, no new fossil fuel power plants, and support for clean energy and green jobs.
The Sierra Club, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, New York Public Interest Research Group, Jewish Climate Action Network, and other climate and environmental justice groups organized around this resolution throughout the fall.
As the Climate Action Council finalizes work on the Scoping Plan, we also remember 10 years since Hurricane Sandy devastated communities across New York and New Jersey. The Sierra Club has released a video marking the anniversary and calling for required action to mitigate the devastating impacts of climate change.
Allison Considine, NY Representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, issued the following statement in response to the vote and video release
“On December 19, the Climate Action Council will vote on a final iteration of the Climate Action Scoping Plan. Ahead of that vote, the New York City Council has, on behalf of over 8 million New Yorkers, stood up to fossil fuel oppositions and joined our call for a final Scoping Plan that meets the urgency of the climate crisis.
This plan must put NY on track to reach all CLCPA targets, rebut the fossil fuel industry’s push to invest in false solutions and continued fossil fuel expansion, and commit to electrification of buildings and transportation, a just transition, and particularly no new fossil fuel plants.
To protect our communities from storms, extreme heat, and climate change’s other dangerous consequences, public leaders must take clear and resolved action. This begins with passing a bold Scoping Plan for a healthier, more sustainable New York.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.